Arc & Earc, what is needed?

gary campbell

Standard Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
25
Reaction score
4
Points
35
Hi all,

I would greatly appreciate any advice that you might be able to give concerning eARC and my system.

I've just upgraded and set up, my home cinema system.

My kit consists of the following :-

LG OLED77C8LLA
Marantz 7015 avr
Panasonic DP-UB820 dvd
Virgin tivo cable box
Denon DHTS 216 soundbar
M&K 3x S150, 2 x SS150, 2 x550 THX, MX350 Ultra THX sub and 4 X Definitive Technology DI 6.5s in ceiling speakers.

For a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos set up.

My problem is that the LG tv only has 1 ARC HDMI socket. Does this affect me when, because I want to watch films etc from my Virgin box or avr in lossless, TrueHD etc?

I would also like to be able to switch the sound, so as when I want to say, watch tv through the Virgin box and use my sound bar, I don't have to unplug the HDMI lead from the avr's, cable input and plug it into the tv's input, but can use the tv's remote to select another HDMI setting?
It's not important to me to get lossless, ie Dolby TrueHD through the soundbar. ARC is fine.

Am I right in thinking that?, even though the Marantz has got Earc it still means that because of the LG's Arc HDMI socket, I will still be only able to get compressed Atmos and not the lossless, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X.

I've read about products like the Arcana, which I believe is getting a newer model release soon or does anyone know about this one, Puretools eARC audio adapter.



Once again, I thank you in advance for any advice/help you may be able to give me in this regard.

Gary

 
Last edited:
My problem is that the LG tv only has 1 ARC HDMI socket. Does this affect me when, because I want to watch films etc from my Virgin box or avr in lossless, TrueHD etc?
The Tivo box is the same as any other streaming service in that it does not offer HD audio. Output from any streaming service, Netflix, et al, is that the audio is SD Dolby Digital Plus and any associated Atmos as a maximum.

With the TV it is only the eARC connection that will pass any audio back to either the AV amp or the soundbar via HDMI. With the soundbar, providing it does have an optical input, then you can easily pass SD Dolby Digital 5.1 to that soundbar. There is no reason for a HDMI connection if optical is also provided.

The Panny player and the Virgin box would connect direct to the Marantz via HDMI. Ensure you have the Marantz configured for HDMI pass through which will allow 5.1 audio to be passed to the soundbar via an optical connection. With the Marantz connected to the eARC port on the TV you will be able to return audio to the Marantz from the TV's built in apps.

I may be wrong here but I think the LG TV's do not pass through DTS so you will need to select DD from any audio options on discs. It will not effect streaming as no streaming services use DTS.
 
As @gibbsy highlights there are a lot of reasons why you may want to reconsider using the Soundbar!

There would be little use of a second eARC/ARC enabled socket on the TV, one or two do offer it but usually as a one or the other option as one or other of the eARC/ARC HDMI Inputs may also offer some additional features (HDR, VRR etc) which you require for some Source devices.

Ignoring the Soundbar for a moment and with the TV connected to the AVR via ARC you have to weigh up connecting your Sources to the TV or to the AVR and see what, if anything you may lose out on, gibbsy highlights DTS as a potential issue if connecting via the TV.

The TV or Virgin Box Optical Out may be an option if the TV or Virgin box have the ability to utilise HDMI + Optical simultaneously, possibly more chance of that being the case with the Virgin Box.

That would limit the Soundbar to working with the Virgin Box and you enabling standby passthrough on the AVR to send the video signal to the TV (I have assumed that is an option on the Marantz).

Otherwise you are into considering the HDFury Vertex² with your Sources connected to the Vertex², the TV to the Vertex² eARC Socket and then the AVR and Soundbar to the Vertex² second HDMI Out and HDMI Audio socket.


Joe

PS The Arcana2 VRR is due for pre release late 2022/Early 2023 and as far as I am aware will run alongside the Arcana at a higher price point.
 
Hi Guys,

Many thanks for the replies.I've been having a little tinker based on your suggestions.

I've used an optical lead from the Virgin box to the Optical on the sound barand have left the HDMI lead still in.

I went into the setting on the AVR and set it to pass through, then I had to nominate a source, but TV wasn't there, so I chose the hdmi input which the tv uses, which is also the arc hdmI.

So in regards to the lossless dolby atmos, (earc) does it affect my viewings through the ultra blue ray and Disney atmos compressed films etc if im using the tv arc?

Many thanks again
 
The BD Player will be limited by the TV's ARC capabilities, but only if you connect the BD Player to the TV.

If you connect the BD Player to the AVR, assuming you will tend to use the BD Player with the AVR+Speaker system rather than the Soundbar, you will receive full uncompressed audio from the BD Player.

Joe
 
I'm a bit confused as to your Virgin box connection. As I read it you have the box connected via optical to the soundbar and HDMI to the Marantz. That will be fine as long as the box can output to both HDMI and optical. I'm not a Virgin so don't know how to set that up.

HDMI passthrough would allow you to watch the Virgin box, along with audio, when the Marantz and soundbar are not being used, ie, the TV speakers only. You will find the setting by Settings>Video>HDMI Setup>HDMI Passthrough On (off by default)>Pass Through Source.

Pass Through Source​

Sets the HDMI connector that inputs HDMI signals when in standby.
Last
(Default):
The most recently used input source will go into standby mode.
CBL/SAT / DVD /
Blu-ray / Media Player /
Game / AUX / 8K /
TV Audio / CD∗:
Pass through the selected input source.
“Pass Through Source” can be set when any of the HDMI connectors is assigned to “CD” for the input source in the “Input Assign” setting. link

It's off by default. I select CBL/SAT as mine because of my SkyQ box.

A word of warning if you are pulling HDMI leads out and back in with the power on. This is known as hot plugging and it can lead to damage. Turn everything off before removing and reinserting the HDMI leads.
 
Gentleman, so,many thanks for your time and efforts here.
Thanks for clearing up the lossless mystery for me Joe.

Gibbsy, sorry for the confusion and a very big thank you about the hot plugging, as that is exactly what I do ie unplug with the power on.
So basically I have two hdmi leads that I use on the Virgin box. 1 end I leave plugged into the Tvs arc hdmi constantly, the other one I leave inserted into the avr's cable hdmi, I then swap the the feed into the Virgin hdmi. depending what I'm going to watch.

SO tomorrow now, I will have another tinker with the setting and ones things for sure, I'm getting there.

Thanks guys
 
Last edited:
Try this. HDMI from the Virgin box to the Marantz. Put the Marantz into pass through with CAB/SAT as the input used. HDMI from the Marantz to the eARC port of the TV. Blu ray connected to the Marantz. Optical out from the TV to the soundbar.

On the LG's audio output option set to external audio devices. That should ensure a 5.1 signal to the soundbar. To use the soundbar from the Virgin box you will have to put the Marantz into standby, however the audio will be passed through to the TV and then onto the soundbar via optical. In theory this should work but I don't have either a Virgin box nor an LG TV to try myself.
 
Thanks gibbsy, I will give that a try. I don't have eARC on my tv, just arc, do you feel it will alter the set up you've mentioned?

Again many thanks for your thoughts.


Regards
 
eARC will revert to ARC and so only SD audio will be past. CEC will also have to be enabled because of that reversion. ARC will still give you Dolby Digital Plus and any associated Atmos metadata from Sky or other streaming apps on the TV, if the TV itself supports Atmos.
 
Keep in mind that eARC and ARC is only relevant for audio the TV is producing (tuner/streaming apps) or Source devices connected to the TV.

eARC/ARC has no affect on audio of any Source connected to the AVR when you are playing audio out via the AVR and attached speaker system.

Joe
 
Hi guys,

Sorry for not getting back, been under it with work.
So, Carried out the above and all good other than in order to get the virgin/cable sound out in atmos etc, I have to swap the leads over ie the Hdmi connected to the avr and the TV.
Guys I am really indebted to you both and thank you for both your efforts.
Regards

Gary
 
Update,

Had a play about with the system and I take my hat off to you guys.
All working now , without me having to switch the hdmi leads on the Virgin box.

Cheers guys👏👍😉
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom